Hi from Taco (a little about myself)

Hi from Taco​

Personal information​

I'm in North Central Iowa, and my friends call me Taco. Heck even my Dad calls me Taco. LOL. I am a full time student and I work too. I am married and my wife enjoys the tank. She has a $10 coral banded shrimp that eats small designer clowns. He is going take a long vacation in the sump when I catch him.

Past setup​

I started with tropical fish and ended up moving over to Ranchu instead, since I like their personality. I used to breed Japanese Ranchu and kept a few Philadelphia Veils. I used to be a member of the Goldfish Society of America, and had a lot of tanks, raised my own live food cultures, etc. For those of you who aren't into goldfish, I've posted a couple of pics below of some nice Japanese Ranchu (not to be confused with the Chinese Ranchu or lionheads) from the same bloodlines that I had, and of some original strain veiltails from the same bloodlines that I had. I ended up losing all of them due to cruel and vindictive person who killed them all, so I took a break from the hobby for a few years. I figured I'd try getting back into it, but with a reef tank this time. 95% weekly water changes were just getting to be too much, but some day I'd like to set up one Ranchu tank and go with one of the newer American strains (see pic below).

Current setup​

I am relatively new to saltwater, and have just one tank-- a 189 tall. Its tall enough that to reach the bottom of the tank I almost have to use a snorkel which is not good, but I enjoy the tank anyways. I'm using two sumps and a lot of sand in both the tank and one sump. I have a lot of SPS, LPS and softies, and am fortunate to have a lot of nice mature colonies in my tank due to the skill of others. I'm running a Berlin Red Sea skimmer and its kind of high maintenance. I have a dual-head flow pump and I run absolutely no timers. I have no live food cultures, and am using mostly frozen and raw organic nori, but sometimes I feed them junk food (flakes). My wife laughs because she says my aquarium is a soap opera drama: the corals need to be moved sometimes because a few of them don't get along with others, and usually at least one of them in the tank is mad because of a crab or shrimp bugging it. I enjoy my tank... I think of it a lot like gardening, and it brings a little bit of summery brightness into my home even with the skies are grey. I'm looking forward to adding some more diversity to my tank, and hopefully later this year I will be able to get a second tank (more on that below).

Interesting pictures and info
​

Philadelphia Veiltail, Janet Purdum strain (An Iowa strain that won most of the national shows)
read more: The Philadelphia Veiltail

Japanese Ranchu, Gunn Chusakul strain (imported)
read more: HIGH RANCHU: THE RULES OF JUDGING

New style, I guess you could call them "Designer" or novelty Japanese Ranchu. I have never had one of these non-traditional types, but someday for my second tank I'd like to get a 30 x 30 inch square custom acrylic, 11 inches tall, with a white bottom, and keep just one nice Ranchu in it. Some of the Japanese breeders won't even sell a fish to you if you are going to throw it in with other fish. They expect the fish to be the center of attention in the home with its own show tank. Its very difficult for Americans to even find a show quality, genuine Japanese Ranchu.

 

Hard to say which I like better-- I think the two are very different.

Keeping the reef tank is owning a piece of nature. Its like being a gardener in an exotic ecosystem -- art and science.

Keeping a single Ranchu is more like owning a miniature show puppy. Ranchu have been domesticated for hundreds of years, and cannot live in a natural environment. Ranchu really like to interact with humans, and the tank itself is not a thing of beauty, it should properly be kept bare.

My reef tank is new this year. Its finally stable and I will be adding my first nem pretty soon, a single rose with some nice green in it from Terri at TNT Corals.

If anything about the tank looks nice, I have to credit the individuals who have done the work and who are telling me what to do to care for it. I'm a nube with reefs.